The Real Heiress Just Wants to Be a Lazy Fish - Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Kidnapping

Tao Yitong remembered Jiang Zitan’s admonition, so no matter how much she fooled around while outside, she maintained a certain limit. Nevertheless, Jiang Zitan’s collar had been tugged into a bit of a mess, and very little lipstick remained on her lips; one could guess at a glance what had just happened between them.

Jiang Zitan only came out after reapplying her makeup. If one didn’t look closely, no problem could be seen, but Tao Yitong’s dejected appearance with her tail drooping was too vivid, looking exactly like a puppy that had been scolded! She probably got lectured, haha!

Even without divining what had just happened, Qian Ran guessed a thing or two from the lingering, sticky atmosphere between the two. At this point, Qian Ran finally felt a sense of reality regarding Tao Yitong being in love. She was a genius at observing astral fates, and she wasn’t the kind of genius to be humble; she was quite conceited in this regard.

And yet, conceited as she was, she had felt a moment of self-doubt when observing Tao Yitong’s “Red Phoenix” star (the star of romance) moving. One could imagine how shocking this matter was to her.

But… haha, she had never seen Tao Yitong like this before!

Tao Yitong:

She could more or less understand age-restricted GL manga, but what on earth was the Handbook for Capturing Your Boyfriend Strategy? Did the original host like men or women? Or did she simply not care and just follow her whims?

While she was utterly perplexed, the new task arrived just half an hour later. Tao Yitong had only thirty minutes to prepare; even if she wanted to take a leave and catch a ride back, it was too late. It was rush hour, and the drive back would take an hour, or forty minutes by subway.

If Jiang Zitan saw those two things, the image Tao Yitong had barely begun to improve would likely collapse instantly. Tao Yitong absolutely did not want to see that happen. After detecting the location of the two items, she followed the assistant to familiarize herself with the environment, her mind wandering as the half-hour mark approached.

When the app notified her that Jiang Zitan had opened the front door, Tao Yitong hurriedly told the assistant she was going to the restroom and ran off.

You have initiated a video call with Jiang Zitan.

A few seconds later, the other side accepted the invitation.

“What is it?”

The person who had just hurried home was still wearing a women’s business suit. From Tao Yitong’s angle, she could see the slightly open collar, revealing exquisite, straight collarbones. A mask covered her chin, making her look beautiful yet blurry.

Tao Yitong had previously felt she wasn’t particularly “straight,” and now her sexual orientation felt like it was undergoing a massive shock test. Especially when the woman slightly tilted her chin and began to move the perspective, almost like lying beneath her, made her recall previous events, causing her to swallow hard.

It was a bit difficult to bear.

“Is Sister at home? It just so happens I have something for you. I have to stay in the dorms recently and can’t go back…” Stealing a glance at Jiang Zitan’s unreadable expression, Tao Yitong steeled her heart and said, “I left something in the living room. Could Sister bring it to me?”

Jiang Zitan’s expression remained unchanged: “What is it?”

Tao Yitong squeezed the words out from between her teeth: “Handbook for Capturing Your Boyfriend Strategy. That’s the name of the book.”

Compared to the Boyfriend Strategy handbook, which at least looked like it wouldn’t contain unpublishable content on the surface, the 18+ GL manga was obviously more stimulating. Sure enough, Jiang Zitan, whose sexual orientation was clearly toward women, frowned with obvious displeasure upon hearing the word “Boyfriend.” She seemed to want to say something but swallowed it back, her expression becoming somewhat unpredictable.

Tao Yitong pretended not to see the change in her expression, acting as natural as possible.

Jiang Zitan paused for a moment, thinking about something, then said slowly: “Is there nothing else you need besides that?”

“Nothing else.”

“Then I’ll hang up”

“Sister, wait!”

Tao Yitong was afraid Jiang Zitan would hang up and some accidental situation would occur, leaving her unable to clear her name even if she jumped into the Yellow River. She could only bite the bullet and continue the awkward small talk under the other’s slightly impatient gaze: “I really envy Sister being able to go home often. I basically have to wander outside all the time now. What should I do if I miss Sister and Mom and Dad later?”

On the other side of the video, Jiang Zitan had found the item she wanted. She was clearly even more impatient with Tao Yitong’s childish question, only answering with forced patience: “You can still get leave sometimes if you’re homesick. The company isn’t that heartless.” A moment later, to prevent Tao Yitong from wasting more time, Jiang Zitan said she had “things to do” and immediately hung up.

Heartless, not looking at all like someone she had an intimate relationship with.

Tao Yitong was so angry her teeth itched. She had never been in love or had a physical relationship in her previous world; she had assumed that having this layer of intimacy would make things different, but she didn’t expect it to be useless with Jiang Zitan.

However, since they had already shared that kind of relationship, it was impossible for her to truly treat Jiang Zitan as a biological sister. Every time she called her “Sister,” it was just a polite nickname. Presumably, it was also impossible for Jiang Zitan to truly treat her as a sister. There are many interpretations of the “sisters” relationship, and blood relation is not the only one.

Thinking of this, Tao Yitong felt slightly better, but she still lamented her own clumsy tongue from earlier. She had clearly prepared a script in her head, yet her courage vanished in the face of Jiang Zitan’s pressure, leaving her like a clay sculpture with nothing to say.

But as long as the goal was achieved, who cared? Since Jiang Zitan didn’t see it, the task was marked as completed, and a weight was temporarily lifted from her heart. Tao Yitong quickly smoothed her expression and returned to the group to continue practicing.

Since that day, Jiang Zitan had become busy. She seemed to have forgotten to deliver the item and didn’t send an assistant to bring it. Tao Yitong wasn’t in a hurry to remind her, as that would make her seem guilty. Her diligent and uncomplaining attitude during training changed many people’s opinions of her. Over time, those trainees who originally disliked her began to move closer to her, marking a good start.

However, the competition for debut spots remained exceptionally cruel. In just one week, the number of trainees plummeted from forty-two to thirty. This was just the beginning; Tao Yitong suspected that later on, the number of people remaining would be so few that they would need to recruit more to supplement the numbers.

The dull training continued for nearly half a month when another department of MT released news: they would select one trainee from this batch to collaborate as the female lead in a music video for a newly debuted singer. The singer was a young, sunny guy, which immediately sent waves through the group of girls.

Being able to show one’s face and see a handsome guy was a double win many wanted to snatch. Even if a new singer’s popularity wasn’t high, it still caused a sensation among the trainees.

That afternoon, while resting in the dorm, Tao Yitong noticed that the big-eyed girl named Yao Xichen was more enthusiastic toward her than usual, following her around like a shadow. The other two roommates were somewhat put off by this; one made an excuse to get water and the other to find a mentor, leaving only the two of them in the room.

This gave Yao Xichen the time to make her move. Sensing her gaze, Tao Yitong instinctively closed her screen and looked up: “Xichen, you’re back?”

Yao Xichen had ulterior motives. After Tao Yitong hummed in response, she made some small talk before getting to the point: “As a Public Trainee, you probably have a high chance of collaborating with Chen Zixin, right?”

Chen Zixin was the newly debuted male singer.

“Yes,” Tao Yitong said bluntly. “What about it?”

Yao Xichen: She hadn’t expected Tao Yitong to be so direct. She had originally wanted to beat around the bush before asking her to give up the opportunity. Her prepared words died in her throat, and her expression turned a bit unsightly.

Chen Zixin was indeed good-looking, and many girls likely wanted to work with him. Since she was interested, most girls’ aesthetics were probably the same. The usually empathetic Tao Yitong seemed to have lost her emotional intelligence today; she let Yao Xichen turn red with frustration without saying a word, staring directly at her as she sat awkwardly on the bed. Just as the other was about to lose her cool and speak out, a knock at the door interrupted their standoff.

The knocking followed a steady rhythm, unlike the two roommates who could enter via fingerprint. Tao Yitong opened the door to see a petite woman with an apple-shaped face.

“Miss Tao, President Jiang invites you for afternoon tea. Please go to Building 3, 7th floor, Room 701 in ten minutes.”

The woman left after saying that, without another word, moving efficiently. Tao Yitong’s eyes lit up at the words “afternoon tea,” and even her response to Yao Xichen carried a hint of excitement.

“But I don’t like Chen Zixin, I like my sister! No matter how good-looking Chen Zixin is, can he be better-looking than my sister?”

Having endured “nutritional meals” for quite some time, Tao Yitong’s expectations for afternoon tea skyrocketed. She imagined pizza or raspberry cake. However, when she arrived excitedly after tidying herself up, all she saw were two cups of cappuccino and a plain piece of rye cake base without any garnish.

Jiang Zitan, sitting behind the office desk, made an inviting gesture. Tao Yitong had to bite the bullet and sit down, finding the coffee bitter beyond words after just one sip.

But her real suffering was yet to come. Halfway through the coffee, Jiang Zitan seemed to remember something. She hummed, then bent down to pull the book out from the desk. Because the project duration was long, Jiang Zitan had an independent office even though she wasn’t part of this company. Tao Yitong instinctively glanced around; she felt relieved only after confirming there were no other desks.

“Thank you, Sister!”

Tao Yitong instinctively reached out to take it back, but Jiang Zitan dodged backward. Tao Yitong nearly lunged onto her, and hurriedly backed away several steps to curb her rude behavior. An ordinary book seemed to weigh a thousand pounds in Jiang Zitan’s hand. At this moment, Tao Yitong even forgot the coffee existed, staring intently at the book.

“Sister?”

The tension in the air made Tao Yitong swallow. She wasn’t sure if the other had discovered the secret inside. It was quite tragic; whatever was inside was the business of the original host and had nothing to do with her, yet she, Tao Yitong, had to bear the social death if it were discovered.

Although Jiang Zitan was sitting, her upright and leisurely posture made the standing Tao Yitong feel like her aura was a head shorter. No matter how much she had prepared to say, she found it hard to speak fluently, standing there nervously like an elementary student being lectured by a teacher.

The natural light from the window fell on the woman’s eyelashes and nose, creating beautiful shadows. From Tao Yitong’s perspective, the slightly lowered long lashes trembled naturally, and the moment she looked up, a clear light entered her beautiful, clean eyes. Jiang Zitan handed the book over very slowly.

The exchange of the book seemed like a drawn-out slow-motion shot.

Tao Yitong:

Looking up at Jiang Zitan’s lipstick, which had faded a bit in the same shade as her own, she suddenly felt an urge to jump straight off the seventh floor. Time seemed to pass very slowly; every second of silent passing was like throwing Tao Yitong into a frying pan. Sitting opposite her was the woman who had personally witnessed her indirect kiss; her expression was unreadable, but a heavy storm seemed to be brewing.

Sensing that Jiang Zitan was about to stand up, Tao Yitong took the initiative to admit her mistake, her eyes full of watery innocence and alarm. She extended a fair fingertip and touched her full lip, the faint smear of red on it being exceptionally alluring.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, and I thought Sister wouldn’t mind me.” Her voice grew smaller. Tao Yitong hung her head, not daring to look at Jiang Zitan. The sound of her racing heart seemed to echo in the silent office. “Or… I’ll let Sister kiss me too… then we’ll be, be even?”

Qian Ran turned her head away, and though she tried desperately to endure, she couldn’t help but let out “pfft pfft” sounds.

She waved her hand, intending to swat away a hidden object, but the moment her power touched the unknown entity, a muffled “boom” rang out the thing exploded right by her head!

This was a treasure specifically designed to deal with demons and ghosts. The bandit leader felt that after walking the night path so often and doing so many guilty things, he might encounter something unclean, so he specifically sought this weapon through special channels.

The loud bang startled Jiang Zitan. When she opened her eyes, she found the person beside her was gone. Clanging sounds came from the living room; her heart tightened instantly, and she rushed out of the room almost instinctively.

The living room was pitch black, with only a few flashlights scattered on the floor. Jiang Zitan turned on the lights and saw a messy living room and bandits lying on the floor in various states of life or death. Ignoring them, she searched frantically for Tao Yitong, eventually finding her sitting in a corner of the stairs clutching her head.

Jiang Zitan hurried over. As she drew near, she realized the person curled in a ball was trembling slightly. She knelt down and asked: “Tongtong? Where does it hurt? Is it your head?”

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